Can Citroen get its mojo back?
Posted by Tom Ford at 1:00PM on Tuesday 26 June, 2007 15 Comments
Citroen. There was a time when it had a range of cars that seemed to stymie the journalistic masses into using only a few words: forward thinking, revolutionary, groundbreaking, futuristic and, eventually, iconic. But the 80s and 90s weren't kind to any of us. I remember some seriously ill-judged knitwear; Citroen must look upon the BX and the Visa with a kind of fond horror.
But things are getting better. Aren't they?
Fair enough, you'd be hard-pressed to say that the C5 and C2 set the world alight. But with a few well-judged partnership programmes (I'm thinking C1 and C-Crosser), a home-grown mass-market hatch with a big attitude (C4) and a completely left-field executive limo (C6 take a bow), Citroen is becoming a car maker that I would genuinely start to consider as a buying proposition. Sort of.
Slick advertising doesn't really have that much effect on people like me - too cynical, overexposed to the media-types - but the quirky C4 ads seemed to suit the brand pretty well.
The C4 feels just different enough for it to stick in your mind (big chevron-faced thing that it is, with a hub-centre steering wheel), but not scary enough to put off more conservative buyers.
The C1 and C-Crosser are both clones/re-faced platform sharers, but clones of good cars nevertheless. They shouldn't be buggy, or suffer from the slightly wayward electronic quality control that seems to dog certain Citroens (my long-term C6 included).
But how long does it take to change the perception of a marque? Five years? Ten? Skoda could tell us. But then I still don't think people actively show-off about having a Skoda - they justify the choice in terms of it being 'a cheap VW'. And Skoda produced its first well-rounded Fabia way back in the first chunk of the 90s - that's a long time to keep chipping away at a perceptual turnaround.
So what can Citroen do to pull itself back into DS levels of love? The C6 is a good start, mainly because it is just damn cool.
To be honest, I'm so pleased that it doesn't try to take on BMW and Mercedes at their own game that I like to think I don't mind so much that the petrol flap sticks, or the computer is a bit like a bad Microsoft product, or that the satnav is, frankly, useless. Except that I do. Quite a lot. Still, there's something confident about a company that makes a car like the C6, knowing that it has limited its market from the off simply by making it so striking.
Which is all a really good thing. But reading some of the posts on our web blog about the new C-Crosser, the overwhelming opinion is that people just don't dig Citroen the way they used to when the DS and GS were knocking about.
So what can it do to convince the public? More cars like the C6 don't make financial sense, and cars like the C-Crosser seem to attract negative attention when they're pretty decent to drive.
Citroen doesn't make peculiarly bad cars - so what is it doing wrong?
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15 Comments for "Can Citroen get its mojo back?"
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My problem with Citroen stems from the good old days, when they did things like use non-standard bolts, so that you needed to buy a tool kit from them.
I know a lot of people loved those old Cits, but I sadly was not among them.
I think what finishes it off for me was I got to car buying age just as the AXs came out: underpowered, ugly, badly built and fell apart faster than they drove...
You are right. But it looks like you have forgotten the Saxo VTS!! That was a pocket nuclear bomb that almost anyone could afford to own!! What is cooler than that!!??
Citroen just needs time to prove itself, or in other words, to repair its reputation! We're seeing good products for the last couple of years... and generally with great ratings!
Citroen is French and that sums up for me why I won't buy one. I have an Alfa GT. OK, the quality is not good but it's Italian, so it looks damn sexy and is icy cool.
I'd say the next C5 has to blow everyone away. Take a risk and create something completely unique, sensationally beatiful and good to drive. Things that made the DS an icon.
I completely agree with DVS, Citroen just has to produce something unique or beautiful like the DS! That was a lovely car!!!
If Citroens were made by the Japanese, they would be unbeatable... ie unique style with quality AND reliability.
Years ago I owned a DS, Dyane and 2CV, all very unusual cars with character and all were reliable and lasted forever.
So Citroen, fix the quality and give us some of your latest daring concept cars as production realities...
I've got a C4 coupe and while it isn't an out-and- out 'hot hatch' it is one of the coolest, sleekest cars available. They seem to have sorted out the build quality as well.
I agree with Marc, Joas and DVS. I love the 2CV, DS and GS, and the C6 is fantastic. The C5 has to be a DS, and the next C3 has to be a 2CV. They need to do even more. The last efforts are fab, the letdowns being the current C5, C8 and C3.
I luv Citroens though. I'd rather buy a C6 than a 5-Series any day.
It's a mystery to me why the cars don't get better press. I'm on my second C5 and no other car can allow me to go everywhere (variable ride height) and carry almost anything (huge hatchback) unless it's an SUV with a huge appetite.
I live in Chile and have, literally, used my car at 3.200m altitude in a dry river to get to natural hot springs... try that in a Mondeo.
Having owned a few Citroens over the years I have to say that they were brilliant and innovative then became quirky and unreliable. But they now have got their act together with regard to design genius and build quality.
In all probability my next car will be either the C4 Picasso or the C-Crosser.
Make the electrics work, then enjoy repeat custom and satisifed buyer referrals.
Not rocket science is it? Soldering connections properly, DUH!
The problem with Citroen, I reckon, is the C3 - the Cit I own.
It is cheap, reliable, economical and everywhere. It is anonymous, dull, worthy, sensible and driven by everyone's mums. It's the sensible one at the back of the used car lot - the one that goes before all the Minis and GTis at the front are sold. It has the same driveway presence as lichen.
French hatches are supposed to have va-va-voom. This one is a shopping trolley, and it doesn't even have a squeaky wheel to make it interesting.
I think Citroen needs to get some degree of soul and character in their smaller vehicles like the C2 and C3, then the future might become very rosy. The brand certainly deserves to be more than just a glorified Pug.
I truly respect Citroen for having the audacity to take big steps into virgin territory when it comes to bold design moves. Just look at the Japanese boxes on four wheels... Maybe I just like the French self-awareness.